If I Were A Bird

If I were a bird, I think I'd like to be a Barn Swallow.

Barn Swallows are one of my favorite birds for many reasons.  I don't know why I haven't written much about them before, except maybe - like good friends; I have taken them for granted.  So, to make up for that, today they are the stars of the blog.

In my flight of fantasy, here are my reasons for choosing to be a Barn Swallow.

1.  Appearance.  Though I think they are beautiful birds, they are probably not the most beautiful in many peoples' minds.  So, it's not just vanity to say 'appearance'.  I think Barn Swallows are unusual and neat-looking birds.  Their appearance has interesting appeal at first glance and at closer inspection.

Two swallows sitting close together on May 6th, 2015... showing they are a pair.

2. Flight.  They are masters of the air, swooping and turning this way and that.  I love to watch them... wouldn't it be wonderful to join them?  

Taking off - I'd have to be a better photographer than I am to get a good photo of them as they are flying about!

3.  Eating all day!  While they are up in the sky flying, they are actually 'working'... catching insects and eating them.  I've read that a swallow might fly up to 600 miles in a day in their home locale, eating their fill.  While that sounds good, it does have one drawback - I might choose to eat something other than bugs!  However, I guess if I was a Barn Swallow, that would be perfect!

This Barn Swallow was stuck in our garage and needed to be rescued.  Luckily, my husband and I had recently taken a mini-class about bird banding, so we knew how to hold a bird without hurting it.  In this photo, you can see how wide the bill of a swallow is, which is perfect for catching insects while in flight.

4. Living in a barn.  I have a very soft spot in my heart for barns, having grown up on a farm in south-eastern PA.  If I was a Barn Swallow, I'd love to find an old-fashioned dairy barn to build my nest and raise babies (preferably with Guernsey cows in it - this is my dream, so why not?).

5. Playing in the mud.  Since Barn Swallows build their nests primarily with mud, using their bills, it's a good thing I'm not squeamish about that kind of thing.  (See #4, growing up on a farm - I played in the mud plenty when I was a kid!)

6. Family life.  Once they've become a pair, the male and female Barn Swallows work together to build a nest (or repair one from a previous year), incubate the eggs, and feed their babies.  

7.  Singing.  They are pretty much always either singing or chittering.  That would suit me fine!

8.  Travel.  Now, this one is probably far-fetched because though they do migrate, I doubt the ones who live here would travel to Europe.  However, this is my fantasy and it's not out of the realm of possibility, because Barn Swallows have one of the largest range of any species. Besides the USA, they live across Europe and Asia and winter in southern Africa and India across to northern Australia!  During winter here, ours migrate to Central and South America.

These are our Barn Swallows last August 28th, the last day I saw them before they left to spend the winter who-knows-where (but, definitely somewhere there are insects to eat!)

9.  Winters in the tropics.  (No explanation needed!)

10. Migrate during the day.  Many birds migrate at night.  While Barn Swallows may sometimes fly at night, they typically migrate during the day.  I like that idea... why not see the countryside as you are going?  And, they eat along the way, too.

Those are my 10 reasons.  What bird would you choose to be if you could?

Now, here are a few more photos of our stars!

Here's another look at our rescued Barn Swallow.  My husband passed it to me and I gently released it.  Notice how one foot is clinging to my finger?  I had turned my hand so it was on its' back and then opened my fingers.  Birds aren't used to taking off from an on-their-back position, so I had a quick chance to look at it before turning it 'right-side up' and letting it fly away.

The life of barn swallows... spend hours flying and eating, then resting briefly on the wire.

This one looks kind of sleepy, doesn't it?  Afternoon nap anyone?

While sitting on the wire, they are also almost constantly preening so those important feathers stay in tip-top condition.

Preening can lead to some interesting photos.

Don't worry, it's okay!  But it does have a tiny feather stuck in its' bill.

Watching the adults feed the young ones is fun, too.
The babies watch for the parents to bring food...

and flutter their wings in anticipation!

However, sometimes it's a brother or sister nearby who get the bug.

Eventually everyone gets something to eat.

Soon these babies will be as graceful as their parents but right now they have a little way to go in the grace department.

 It's a neat fantasy to dream about being a bird!  I'm thankful though, just to have Barn Swallows living in our yard so I can be a little part of their life by watching!

Too Cute! - Episode "Our Baby Birds"

I've only watched the Animal Planet series, "Too Cute" a few times but I have to say I've enjoyed it.  Compared to a lot of what is on TV these days, at least that show makes me smile.  

Meanwhile, my 'pile' of digital photos of our local baby birds has been growing and growing.  Some of them have already been featured on the blog... like our bluebirds.  But I have a lot of other "too cute" babies to show you.  I thought about making it a contest for you to pick the cutest of them all.  However, when my girls were babies I never entered them in the baby contest at the Harford Fair because to me, they were definitely THE cutest babies and I didn't want any judge telling me otherwise!  So, no contest for these babies either... just enjoy!

The first "too cute" babies are.... the Killdeer!

They hatch from their eggs ready to hop up and start hunting for their own food, but this doesn't necessarily mean their parents have it easy!

In fact Killdeer parents seem more worried than most about their little ones' safety.  If you come anywhere close by, they will do a feigned-injury display to try to distract you away from the nest or young.  If I was doing a whole post about Killdeer I would take time to find an old photo of that and show you.  But I better not get distracted!

I really only should be showing you one or two photos of each kind of bird but I can't resist - these Killdeer babies really are too cute:

One day I watched as one of the Killdeer tried to hide under its parent.  It didn't quite make it all the way under but I guess it felt safer!

"Let me under Mama!"

"I can't see them, so they can't see me, right?"

Next are birds we are all familiar with.... American Robins.

I think we have a greedy baby in this bunch!  It got the bug and the worm!

Neither of the first two bird families was at our property so I can't give you too much info on how they made out.  The parents seemed to be doing a good job raising them when I visited them though.

Now, we'll switch locations to our yard.

You know we had a lot of Baltimore orioles coming to our grape jelly feeder (you can use the blog search box to look up the several posts about it).  The babies are also taught early about our jelly supply.

Same thing with the house finch babies... "Here's where the sunflower seeds are, my dears!"

The woodpeckers teach their babies about our suet...

or they find it on their own, like the young red-bellied woodpecker in the next two photos.  He's in the right place, just needs to find the feeder.

He's getting closer and showing off his first few red feathers on his crown in the next photo.

I love those birds.  They won a contest I did have on here awhile ago for "Best Dressed".

Trying hard not to discriminate between birds I love and those I, well... love less, the next photo is of a Grackle and it's begging youngster.

 The juvenile looks a lot smaller than the adult in that photo, but it's really not.  You can tell in the next photo, taken after they flew up into the tree, that they are actually about the same size.

Our next baby is one that might come down to our feeders in time, but I happened to see it up in our woods.  A fluffy little black-capped chickadee!

The whole family was sputtering about my being nearby, so I didn't stay long.  The babies sure were cute though!

Most babies in the woods are more difficult to get photos of.  I knew where one other chickadee nest, a yellow-throated vireo's nest, and two cedar waxwing nests were this year, but never managed to see the babies.  But I'm glad they were there, and well protected from prying eyes!

Usually a little easier to see are the babies in our swamp.  The Wood Ducks already had their own post here, but you might enjoy seeing them again when they were a little bit bigger.

Well, they are easier to see when they are swimming... not so much when Mama is teaching them to hide in the grass!

Here are some more cute swamp babies: a Canada Goose family...

and one baby a little bit bigger but still cute:

Finally, some barn swallows which decided they would like to live in a swamp, not a barn:

Just waiting for Mama to swoop in and bring them a meal!  Here she comes...

I had a lot of fun watching them from a kayak in a beaver swamp, which was a bit different than their usual location in a barn.  

Last but not least, I'm including a short video of one of our bluebird babies.  I know they had their own post, but this really is "too cute" not to share.  This little bird had done what bluebirds do.... flown down into our lawn to catch a bug.   I had recently mowed the lawn and the baby got a piece of clover and a grass clipping stuck in his feathers.  Here he is trying to preen them out!

Too cute!!!